How to Genuinely Improve Website Personalisation
Your website is your best salesperson. It works 24/7, never calls in sick, and can simultaneously talk to thousands of people.
There's just one problem. It's giving the same pitch to everyone who walks through the digital door.
The first-time visitor, loyal returning customer, and qualified lead from Manchester get the same generic handshake.
That’s a terrible way to do business.
Many entrepreneurs and business owners know this. They hear “personalisation” and immediately picture two things: creepy, invasive tracking that follows you around the internet, or million-dollar software stacks that require a team of data scientists to operate.
So they do nothing.
Personalisation isn't that. It’s about using common sense and data you already have (or can easily get) to treat different visitors differently.
It’s about being helpful. This isn’t a guide on how to buy a complex tool; it's a practical, step-by-step method to get real results.
- Website personalisation enhances user experience by tailoring content to individual visitor needs, improving engagement and conversion rates.
- Utilise first-party and zero-party data to gather accurate insights about user behaviour for effective personalisation.
- Begin with simple tactics like personalised CTAs and geotargeting before progressing to advanced strategies.
- Ensure ethical personalisation by using data transparently, avoiding manipulative tactics to maintain user trust.
What is Website Personalisation? (And What It's Not)
Website personalisation is creating customised experiences for visitors to your website.
It’s about showing the right content, offers, and calls to action to the right person at the right time. The goal is to make the visitor feel understood, which makes their journey smoother and more relevant.
It is not about sticking {{first_name}} on a pop-up and calling it a day. That’s a mail-merge party trick from the 90s, not a strategy. It's transparently automated and impresses no one.
Genuine personalisation creates tangible value. A report from McKinsey shows that companies that excel at personalisation generate 40% more revenue from those activities than average players. It works because relevance is a form of respect for the user's time.
The Data You Need (Hint: You Probably Already Have It)
To personalise anything, you need data. But not the shady, third-party stuff causing a privacy meltdown online. The most powerful data is the information you collect directly from your audience.
First-Party Data: What They Do on Your Site
You collect this data from user behaviour directly on your website or within your products. It's your data, it's accurate, and it's the gold standard for understanding user intent.
Examples include:
- Pages a user has visited
- How many times have they returned to your site
- Previous purchases or downloads
- Products they've added to their cart
- Time spent on specific pages
This is the digital equivalent of a shopkeeper noticing a customer always heads straight for the same aisle.
Zero-Party Data: What They Willingly Tell You (The Untapped Goldmine)
This is the most overlooked and powerful data of all. Zero-party data is information a customer intentionally and proactively shares with you. You don't infer it; you don't track it. You simply ask for it.
This is my favourite pet peeve. Businesses will spend a fortune trying to guess what a customer wants when they could just ask.
Why is it so powerful? It's explicit. It’s accurate. And because the customer provides it willingly, it builds trust instead of eroding it.
Examples include:
- Quiz results
- Survey responses
- Selections in a preference centre (“What topics are you interested in?”)
A fantastic real-world example is the e-commerce brand Beardbrand. They use a simple quiz to ask visitors about their beard type and style goals.
Based on the answers, they recommend a specific set of products. It's not magic, it's a conversation. It’s helpful, not intrusive, and drives sales by directly solving the customer's problem.
A Quick Word on Third-Party Data
You buy this data from large aggregators who track users across multiple websites. It includes things like demographic information or general interests.
My take? Don't build your strategy on it. With the death of third-party cookies and growing privacy regulations like GDPR, this data is becoming less reliable, more regulated, and frankly, a bit grimy. Focus on your direct relationship with your audience through first and zero-party data.
The Stair-Step Method: From Easy Wins to Advanced Tactics
The biggest mistake in personalisation is trying to run before you can crawl. Forget the complex AI engines for now.
The “Stair-Step Method” is about mastering the basics first. Start at Step 1. Don't even think about Step 3 until you've nailed the fundamentals.
Step 1: The Low-Hanging Fruit (Do These First)
Most businesses can implement simple, high-impact tactics with basic tools.
- Personalised CTAs: Your call-to-action should not be one-size-fits-all. A first-time visitor doesn't know you well enough to “Request a Quote.” A returning lead who has already downloaded a guide is ready for that next step. Use simple rules to show different CTAs to new vs. returning visitors.
- New Visitor Sees: “Learn More” or “Download Our Free Guide”
- Returning Visitor Sees: “See Pricing” or “Book a Consultation
- Geotargeting: This is the process of modifying content based on a visitor's location. It’s one of the easiest ways to signal relevance.
- A B2B service could change its headline from “IT Support” to “IT Support in Birmingham.”
- An e-commerce store can show prices in the local currency (£, $, €).
- A franchise can automatically highlight the nearest physical location.
- Behavioural Popups: Popups get a bad rap because they're often used poorly. A good pop-up is a relevant message triggered by specific user behaviour. The most common is the exit-intent pop-up, which appears when a user is about to leave.
- An exit-intent pop-up could offer a 10% discount on a pricing page.
- On a blog post, it could offer a PDF version of the article.
- For an abandoned cart, it could offer free shipping.
Step 2: The E-commerce Essentials
If you sell products online, these personalisation tactics are non-negotiable. They are the primary drivers of average order value and repeat purchases.
- Product Recommendations: This is the classic Amazon model: “Customers who bought this also bought…” or “Frequently bought together.” You don't need Amazon's budget to do this. Most modern e-commerce platforms, like Shopify, have apps and built-in features that can add these recommendation blocks to your product and cart pages. Other variations include “Recently Viewed Items” and “You Might Also Like.”
- Abandoned Cart Reminders: A customer adds an item to their cart but leaves. Sending an email is standard practice. But what about when they return to your site a few days later? A small, non-intrusive banner that says “Welcome back! You still have items in your cart” is an incredibly effective nudge.
- Dynamic Offers: This involves showing specific discounts to specific segments. Use this with caution, as showing different prices to different people for the same product can backfire. A safer and more effective approach is to offer a “10% off your first order” discount that only displays for new visitors.
Step 3: The Content & B2B Playbook
Once you have mastered the basics, you can move on to more sophisticated content-based personalisation. This is especially powerful for service businesses and companies with long sales cycles.
- Dynamic Content Blocks: This means swapping out entire page sections based on user data. A solid website design is the foundation for this, as it requires a flexible, modular layout.
- Example: Imagine you're a marketing agency. A visitor reads three blog posts about SEO for law firms. The next time they visit your homepage, instead of seeing your generic “What We Do” section, they see a block of content featuring your legal marketing case studies and testimonials from lawyers. That's powerful relevance.
- Personalised Content Feeds: This is the Netflix or Spotify model applied to your content. Instead of showing a generic list of your “Latest Blog Posts” to everyone, you can display a feed of recommended articles based on the categories and topics a specific user has engaged with in the past. This keeps users on your site longer and establishes you as a go-to resource for their interests.
The Tools of the Trade (Without the Hype)
Remember the rule: a tool without a strategy is just an expensive subscription. The tactics above define your strategy. The tools below simply help you execute it.
All-in-One CRMs & Marketing Platforms
Tools like HubSpot or ActiveCampaign are great starting points. If a visitor fills out a form, they become a known contact in your system. You can then use the platform's features to show them personalised CTAs or dynamic content blocks when they return to your site. They bridge the gap between email marketing and website experience.
E-commerce Platform Apps
The app store is your best friend if you're on a platform like Shopify or BigCommerce. Hundreds of affordable plugins can handle product recommendations, behavioural popups, and other e-commerce essentials without requiring custom development.
Dedicated Personalisation Engines
This category includes powerful (and expensive) platforms like Optimizely or Dynamic Yield. They offer advanced AI-driven personalisation, A/B testing, and deep analytics.
My honest advice? You don't need them yet. These are enterprise-grade tools. Master everything in Steps 1 and 2 first. You can explore these if you've exhausted the potential of simpler tools and have a clear business case.
How to Get Started in 3 Simple Steps (Seriously, Just Three)
Feeling overwhelmed? Don't be. Here is a simple, actionable plan to get started this week.
Step 1: Identify Your Top 3 Visitor Segments. Don't try to personalise for everyone. Start with a few essential groups. For most businesses, these are:
- First-Time Anonymous Visitors
- Returning Leads (people who have downloaded something or are in your CRM)
- Existing Customers (people who have bought from you)
For each group, ask: what is the #1 action I want them to take next?
Step 2: Pick ONE Tactic from “The Low-Hanging Fruit” Don't try to do everything simultaneously. Choose one tactic and implement it. Personalising your main homepage CTA for new vs. returning visitors is a fantastic place to start. It's high-visibility and relatively easy to implement with the right tools.
Step 3: Measure the Impact. Use your website analytics to see if it worked. Did the click-through rate on your CTA go up for returning visitors? Did conversions increase? If yes, great. Pick another tactic and repeat the process. If no, analyse why and tweak your approach before moving on.
This iterative process is the key. Small, measured steps will always beat a giant, chaotic leap.
It might be time for a professional look if you're unsure where to start or how your site measures up. You can request a quote to see how we'd approach it.
The Big Question: Is It Creepy?
Let's address the elephant in the room. Personalisation can feel creepy if done wrong. The line between “helpful” and “creepy” is crucial.
Here's a simple rule of thumb:
- It's helpful if you use data to make the user's experience easier, faster, or more relevant. Showing a photographer case studies about photography websites is helpful. Remembering their shipping address is useful.
- It's creepy if you use data to be manipulative or reveal that you know something you shouldn't. Referencing an item they looked at on a completely different website is creepy. Changing prices based on their perceived ability to pay is creepy.
This is why Zero-Party Data is so essential. You can't be creepy if you're explicitly acting on information they gave you. It's the ultimate foundation for ethical and practical personalisation.
Conclusion
Personalisation isn't a dark art or a line item on a software invoice. It's the digital equivalent of good customer service.
It’s about listening to what your customers do and say, and then using that information to be more helpful.
Stop building one website for everyone. Start with one small change. A different CTA for a returning visitor. A location-specific headline.
Start building a website that adapts to the person right before it.
Effective personalisation begins with a solid, flexible foundation. You're building on sand if your website is rigid and difficult to update.
See our approach to web design services that are built for growth, or explore more of our insights on the Inkbot Design blog.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between personalisation and customisation?
The system does personalisation for the user (e.g., Netflix recommending shows to you). Customisation is done by the user for themselves (e.g., you changing the Netflix interface to dark mode).
How much data do I need to start with website personalisation?
You can start with very little. Even just being able to distinguish between a new and a returning visitor is enough to implement your first tactic, like a personalised CTA. You don't need a massive database to begin.
Is website personalisation expensive?
It doesn't have to be. While enterprise solutions can cost thousands per month, many tactics can be achieved with features already built into your CRM, e-commerce platform, or affordable plugins.
What are the most important metrics to track for personalisation?
The key metrics are Conversion Rate, Average Order Value (AOV), and Engagement (e.g., pages per session, time on site). You should measure these for each visitor segment you're targeting to see the actual impact.
Can personalisation hurt my SEO?
If implemented poorly, yes. For example, showing Google's crawler different content than a user sees (known as “cloaking”) can be problematic. However, most modern personalisation tools are SEO-friendly and work safely for search engines.
What is dynamic content?
Dynamic content is any part of a website (text, images, CTAs) that changes based on data about the user. An example of dynamic content is a homepage headline that changes based on the visitor's industry.
How does Zero-Party Data differ from First-Party Data?
First-party data is collected by observing a user's behaviour (e.g., they clicked on five pages). Zero-party data is information the user explicitly and voluntarily gives you (e.g., they answer a quiz question saying “I am a beginner”).
What's the most straightforward personalisation tactic to implement first?
A personalised call-to-action (CTA) for new vs. returning visitors is often the simplest and most impactful starting point.
Can I personalise a website for B2B customers?
Absolutely. B2B personalisation is highly effective. You can tailor content based on company size, industry, or where they are in the sales funnel—for example, showing a case study relevant to a visitor's industry.
Do I need a developer to implement personalisation?
For basic tactics, often not. Many marketing automation tools and website platforms offer no-code or low-code editors that allow you to set up rules for dynamic content and pop-ups without technical help. More advanced strategies may require a developer.
Does personalisation work for small businesses?
Yes. In many ways, small businesses have an advantage. They often have a deeper understanding of their customer segments, allowing them to create more meaningful and authentic personalised experiences than a large, faceless corporation.
How do I balance personalisation with user privacy?
Be transparent in your privacy policy about what data you collect and how you use it. Prioritise using first-party and zero-party data; always give users control over their information and preferences. The goal is to be helpful, not intrusive.
